Investing.com - Wall Street saw mixed trading on Tuesday as disappointing earnings from Google pressured tech stocks, while positive numbers from several Dow components supported bulls.
At 9:35 AM ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones rose 25 points, or 0.1%, at 26,578.96 points, the S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,938.05 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 42 points, or 0.5%, at 8,1119.56 points.
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) set a negative tone for the tech sector, reporting its slowest revenue growth in three years over the first quarter.
Among positive reports from Dow components, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) delivered better-than-expected revenue and profit, while U.S. same-store sales also beat consensus.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) also topped estimates and both lifted their full-year guidance.
Still ahead for a busy day of earnings, the spotlight will fall on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) when the iPhone-maker reports after the market close.
In M&A news, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) fell over 3% on fears of dilution after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) said it will invest $10 billion in the company to help finance the acquisition of Anadarko (NYSE:APC). Berkshire will get 100,000 preferred shares and a warrant to buy up to 80 million Occidental shares at $62.50 each in a private offering, roughly where the stock price was before Anadarko signalled it would recommend Occidental's bid.
Dampening risk sentiment on the economic front, China’s factory activity expanded at a slower-than-expected pace, closing in on stagnation and renewing concerns over the world’s second largest economy.
Markets are following developments in ongoing talks between the U.S. and China in the hopes that the two will end their trade dispute. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were in Beijing for another round of negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He that will continue next week in Washington D.C.
Mnuchin said Tuesday that he hopes to make “substantial progress”, without giving further details.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, began its two-day meeting on Tuesday amid expectations that it will keep interest rates on hold. At its March meeting, the Fed indicated that it expects to hold off from hiking rates for the rest of the year, after lowering its growth forecast for the year.
Although data released last week showed that growth in the U.S. economy unexpectedly accelerated in the first quarter, the expansion was boosted by gains in trade and inventories which may be transitory. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, generally considered to be the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator, cooled off in March, supporting arguments for a pause in policy tightening.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference after the meeting ends on Wednesday.
On the data front, the Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for April while the National Association of Realtors will publish its report on pending home sales in March. Both are due at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
Outside of equities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, dropped 0.4% to 97.24 by 9:36 AM ET (13:36 GMT), while the yield on the 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 2.54%.